DANCING On Ice queen Clare Buckfield has revealed that she's back on the dating scene after her split from telly host Declan Donnelly.

Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, she says: "My heart is mended. I'm single and ready to move on."

Despite a career in television, Clare is better known for being Dec's girlfriend for 11 years. As one of showbiz's most solid couples, she and the Geordie TV host looked sure to marry, until their sensational split three years ago.

Dec, 31, was exposed as having a fling with a lap-dancer, leaving petite Clare devastated.

Clare, a child star who appeared in Grange Hill and 2Point4 Children, has always maintained a dignified silence over her famous ex, turning down lucrative offers to spill the beans on their sex life.

But now she says that she's finally over the pain and back on the dating scene. "I've had a couple of relationships since we split, with non-celebrities, but they didn't work out. Maybe Mr Right is just around the corner," says 30-year-old Clare.

"I understand why people always refer to me as Dec's ex but hope they'll soon stop. I hope Dancing On Ice will show me in a different light."

Clare, hotly tipped to win the ITV1 Saturday night contest, had often joked that she and Dec would have a double wedding with his TV partner Ant McPartlin and his now wife Lisa Armstrong.

And Dec, most recently linked to rugby star Jonny Wilkinson's ex Diana Stewart, has admitted in an interview: "I'd never say never about getting back with Clare."

Certainly Clare, who requested Ant's wife Lisa as her make-up artist for our photoshoot, isn't ruling out a romantic reconciliation.

And Dec fits her description of her ideal man - "Cute, funny and able to make me laugh."

"Dec has said never say never - and I say the same," she explains. "The great thing is, we're still friends and still talk.

"We grew up together so we'll always have that and no one can take that away from us. Great things are happening for him, and me, and we're both happy for each other.

"I'm not feeling broody quite yet but would love to get married and have a couple of kids one day - and maybe live in a cottage and have a pet dog."

IF Dec, who fronts ITV1 game show Poker Face on Saturday nights, manages to catch her on the rink, he will see his ex looking sexier than ever.

Skating for four hours a day has helped 5ft 4in Clare drop a dress size and lose half a stone to become a slender 7st 7lbs. "Yes, I've gone from a size eight to a six. My bum and body are toned."

Clare was the judges' favourite from the start of the show. Her daredevil attitude saw her risk life and limb by attempting tricky spins and jumps way before any of the others.

Yet last week, she and ice partner Andrei Lipanov were shocked to find themselves in the skate-off against Sky newsreader Kay Burley - so tonight the pair are attempting their riskiest routine yet.

Clare, who broke a rib in early training, says: "We've put in more hours this week than anyone else. I've raised my game. This week we're doing the head-banger lift, so if I turn my head an inch too far either way I'll crack it.

"I trust Andrei but my poor mum, bless her, is frantic with worry because she knows I'm a daredevil.

But I'm also very clumsy."

Clare had feared she would be one of the first star skaters booted off the show.

She explains: "I'm not as well known at the other celebrities.

So when I was paired with Andrei I said: 'Sorry mate, you've got a duff one here.' But he said: 'Good - we have nothing to lose so let's just have fun.'" "I've found Dancing On Ice brilliant fun but exhausting.

After the show and the tour that follows, I'm going on a girlie holiday to enjoy some sun and spa treatments with Lisa, who's still my best mate, and my sister Julie."

Viewers will know Clare's identical twin Julie as an actress who starred in Hollyoaks and Grange Hill.

The pair are exceptionally close and have shared some eerie telepathic moments.

"We always buy the same cards for family and have to be careful about presents.

"When we were at primary school we were sitting at opposite ends of the class but wrote exactly the same story about a dragon.

"A few years ago I was working in Birmingham when I passed out with stomach pains. Doctors said they'd have to operate but I said I had to phone my sister first.

"Jules was asleep and her mobile was on silent.

But she woke, picked up her phone and asked: 'What's wrong, Clare?' Fortunately she doesn't feel the pain of my skating falls!"

"I don't know who'll win," she says. "But if Andrei and I do it, it'd be a huge surprise. Whatever happens, I've loved every minute of it!"

Dancing On Ice, ITV1 tonight at 6.40pm, with the skate-off at 9.45pm. Tickets for the Dancing On Ice Tour, which begins on March 31 and includes 17 UK dates, are available by calling 0870 011 2626 or 0871 230 9810.

CLARE Buckfield could skate long before she appeared in ITV's Dancing On Ice.

She was asked to open a new rink in Sunderland back in 1998. And she confidently took to the ice, holding a microphone in one hand and scissors in the other.

Dressed in a Snow White costume, she glided to a banner and even did a twirl before coming to a halt and opening the rink. Afterwards, as Hi Ho, Hi Ho played in the background, she skated back to the edge.

The proceedings were videoed by a skating enthusiast at the no-closed Ice Centre. "Clare was asked to do it because she was starring in the local pantomime," said a source. "It went very smoothly and she certainly didn't look as though that was her first time on skates."

When Clare began Dancing On Ice, rumours were rife that she had skated extensively. On the second show, host Phillip Schofield confronted her. "People are saying you've skated before, you're almost a professional. Have you done any skating before?" Shaking her head, Clare replied that she first stepped on to the ice at Alexandra Palace in north London, to train for the TV show. "No, I started at the same time as Kyran (Bracken) and Stephen (Gately)."

Phillip checked again, asking: "Nothing?" and Clare shook her head.

Yesterday an ITV1 spokeswoman said: "Clare has never had lessons or professional coaching before Dancing On Ice. She has skated, like the rest of us, occasionally when she was younger.

"We have footage of her first coaching session for the show and she was an absolute novice."